“Yom insists on seeing Jordan for itself, not as a function of American interests or of Israeli concerns..based on deep field research and an encylopedic knowledge of the political science literature.. will likely productively annoy certain audiences.” abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/this-must-be...

Q: Rodriguez called it a 'kidnapping' of Maduro TRUMP: That's alright. That's not a bad term.

head of chiquita banana wanting to ask the forbidden question now that trump is overthrowing governments for oil companies

According to the current administration, none of the following counts as "war" requiring Congressional authorization: 1) Bombing the Middle East, Africa, and/or Latin America 2) Bombing nuclear facilities 3) Kidnapping foreign leaders

Can’t believe the winner of the FIFA Peace Prize would launch a war like this.

One of my favorite presents ever—my dad found and framed this pic of my mother @sunminkimes.bsky.social at a Seattle courthouse after she passed her US citizenship test in 1981. Like so many of the people who come here to start a new life, she is the best of us—the bravest, strongest person I know.

Bashar al-Assad's daughter has been living and studying in the UAE since the regime fell, at the Sorbonne in Abu Dhabi, where it looks like Emirati authorities are her enforcers, kicking out another Syrian student who dared to criticize her in a group chat. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/w...

“Jordan cannot be reduced to the banalities of orientalist folklore, much less the other tropes that have long garbled how the Western media describe the kingdom.” @seanyom.bsky.social in Hidden Cities on what Jordan’s history reveals about the Middle East: www.hidden-cities.com/p/why-tiny-j...

"However accidental its historical genesis, Jordan has become a crucible of knowledge about how power and geopolitics operate in the region." @seanyom.bsky.social in Hidden Cities on how tiny Jordan helps explain the entire Middle East: www.hidden-cities.com/p/why-tiny-j...

Don't miss our online event tomorrow, Dec. 11, 2 PM ET: “Politics in an Accidental Crucible:” A discussion of Sean Yom’s new book, “Jordan” With @seanyom.bsky.social, @mattlac.bsky.social, Ben Schutze, Jamal al Tahat, Yara Bataineh, @sarahleah1.bsky.social Register: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Witnesses Assumed Charlie Kirk Shooter Was Just Ordinary Gunman On School Campus

Qatar: we're giving you a luxury Boeing 747 to be your personal chariot Trump: thank you so much Qatar: can you make sure nobody bombs us? Trump: leaves chat www.bbc.com/news/article...

From White House press conference, re: Israel bombing Qatar: President Trump feels "very badly about the location of the attack" You can't make this shit up

In July 2024, Israel waited until Ismail Haniyeh *left* Qatar to visit Tehran before assassinating him. Now it's just full-on bombing Qatar. If the US had granted visas to PLO leaders to attend the UN meeting this month, I'd be very scared about Mossad operations in Manhattan.

Qatar has now been bombed by both Iran and Israel, while hosting a major US base. This has serious implications on the meaning - or lack thereof - of hosting US military as well as just how inconvenient it is to be a mediator in this day and age.

Fun fact: Qatar, whose capital Israel just bombed, is a “major non-NATO ally” of the United States.

NEW PODCAST: The MERIP Roundtable "On Recognition" @jdryan08.bsky.social is joined by EdCommers @lisahajjar.bsky.social, @seanyom.bsky.social, and Jacob Mundy to discuss genocide recognition by Israeli figures and institutions, and UK/Canada recognition for a Palestinian state. buff.ly/IZuBpDI

MAGA is going through some things .

"The unemployment rate is 3.6%"

I already saw this movie, the ending sucked but Benicio del Toro was great www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/...

I just can't

MTG goes to war with AIPAC and my head is going to explode www.youtube.com/shorts/v8A9C...

Reporter: We have not seen tariffs at these rates since the 1930s, and following that was the Great Depression. It's ratcheted up to 50% for some countries. The most recent estimate is these tariffs costing the average family $2,400 a year. That's a significant hit to the average American family

In other words: we are paying for the tariffs

A genuinely good part of the old Republican aesthetic is how it sought to play down wealth, an impulse born from Protestant values. You can see this in how Bush dressed and decorated his living spaces That aesthetic now replaced by gilt detailing designed to remind you that the occupant is wealthy.

And this is different from the pre-post-American world how?

Recently, my book THEY CALLED US ENEMY was banned – again – in Tennessee. Book bans are out of control. Huge parts of American history are being restricted. To join me in standing up for the freedom to read, go to pen.org/action. @penamerica.bsky.social @topshelfcomix.bsky.social @idwpublishing.com

Wild how the Fed chair saying that *entire regions of the United States* won’t be able to get a mortgage in the next decade barely registered as a news event

Just out: Pete Moore and @seanyom.bsky.social in conversation with Ezra Karmel about their MELG Roundtable “Reconceptualizing Security and Political Economy in the Modern Middle East," which includes articles on Jordan, Syria and Yemen on.soundcloud.com/CgXZYhR8rgxs...

So under that rationale, we could strike nuclear facilities in Russia and not be at war with Russia... right? abcnews.go.com/Politics/van...

Lol, I don't think he's thought this whole royal comeback thing through despite what the Israeli right is telling him on WhatsApp thehill.com/policy/inter...

Iran: Weeks away from having nuclear weapons since 1995

Through it all, the genocidal machine marches on. www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/...

My new book on Jordan, out in September! It covers major topics on Jordanian history/politics imaginable over the past century--myths, monarchism, authoritarianism, civil society, democratic struggles, economy, foreign policy... global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Can't make this up. Some inside Trump admin wanted to assassinated Syrian prez al-Sharaa before he met the MAGA chief. King of Jordan had to warn Americans to please not kill the new Syrian president or there'll be civil war, thanks. www.middleeasteye.net/news/jordans...

I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but the orcas now have two F/A-18 Hornets

A small write-up of mine on Kuwait, where a hybrid political system is hurtling towards authoritarianism.

Since Trump apparently fancies the idea of becoming Pope, my latest for @wpr.bsky.social discusses what doing the job of Pope actually entails for world politics. TL,DR: probably not posting AI images of yourself as Pope

"Trump's populist regime craves a world that mirrors its dark vision for a new American republic: a global order that cements whiteness at the apex of political hierarchy." Said I, in my latest from @dawnmenaorg.bsky.social dawnmena.org/the-dangers-...

Either the Muslim Brotherhood (legal since 1940s but under perpetual pressures by regime) has gone too far in doing crazy stuff (weapons smuggling, conspiracy), or Jordan's regime finally has a reason to ban the Brotherhood, which it's wanted to do for decades. www.middleeasteye.net/news/jordan-...

Read @giorgiocafiero.bsky.social's article about the increasing rate of citizenship revocation in Kuwait. He quotes me, @seanyom.bsky.social, Courtney Freer, and Michael Herb. amwaj.media/en/article/m...

Trump fired six NSC officials, including four after his meeting with Laura Loomer -- who apparently had more influence than National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, doubly undercut by having aides axed from under him @theguardian.com latest www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

In February, @seanyom.bsky.social wrote about that very awkward meeting between Trump and King Abdullah, and how Trump is trying to blackmail Jordan: "This entire episode exposes the destructive writ of American hegemony, and Jordan's own authoritarian shortcomings." dawnmena.org/trumps-geopo...

Love seeing all the new ideas/practices coming out of @merip.bsky.social these days! Check out this workshop for would-be contributors based at Villanova with @jdryan08.bsky.social @seanyom.bsky.social @maryahannun.bsky.social and @keshavarziana.bsky.social

Join us Thursday 3/6 to discuss the implications of #Trump's plan to ethnically cleanse #Gaza. Speakers: Michael Barnett, Tahani Mustafa, @nancyokail.bsky.social, @seanyom.bsky.social, and Yousef Munayyer For more info and to register👇 arabcenterdc.org/event/implic...

This will ruin your weekend, but it's important... from my post-doctoral advisor and lifelong mentor, Larry Diamond www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-ame...

Remember that time when Jordan convinced the US to stop doing stupid shit? Yah neither do I so here's what happened instead when Trump met King Abdullah yesterday: dawnmena.org/trumps-geopo...

"Trump's demand that Jordan accept the forcible relocation of Palestinians from Gaza is a catastrophe for the kingdom, and for King Abdullah." @seanyom.bsky.social on how "this entire episode exposes the destructive writ of American hegemony."